PhilHealth increases all benefit packages
By Renelle Luzon Escuadro
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) – The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) Caraga has announced the increase of all its benefit packages by 30 percent effective February 14, 2024.
The announcement was made by Regional Vice President Michael Jibson C. Hernandez of PhilHealth Caraga during their guesting in Kapihan sa PIA on February 14, in time with their 29th anniversary celebration and the observance of the National Health Insurance Month.
“Just today (Feb. 14), PhilHealth approved the inflation adjustment factor of
30 percent to all existing case rates to account for all PhilHealth
charges. This is a breakthrough in PhilHealth, as this is the first time
in the history of the agency to increase all benefit packages across the
board,” the key official said.
Hernandez also relayed that in 2003 the reserved fund of PhilHealth was at P100 billion, and today the fund has increased to more than P300 billion. With enough reserved funds, the law makers requested PhilHealth to increase the coverage.
“With the current increase of PhilHealth premium contribution of one percent,
this will generate an estimated income of P17 billion in terms of collection
that we can return to the members through better and higher coverage benefits,”
he added.
Dr. Joel Arturo S. De Jesus, chief of the Health Care Delivery Management Division of PhilHealth Caraga cited hypertension package as an example saying, “hypertension was set at P9,000 before, with the increase it is now at P11,700.”
De Jesus also emphasized that with the current increase in PhilHealth benefit packages, these are sufficient to cover 100 percent of the members’ hospital bills, especially if they opted for government hospitals.
“In government hospitals, our members don’t have to pay out of the pocket for any excess billing. For private hospitals as their preference, co-payment is still possible,” Dr. De Jesus explained.
Dr. Pinky B. Espelimbergo, head of the Benefits Administrative Section of PhilHealth Caraga assured maximum coverage of the members, stating, "PhilHealth is more than willing to provide the highest and maximum coverage to all our members at all times. We have different channels like PCares, Malasakit employees, 24/7 hotline or our nearest office where members and their families can reach out for immediate assistance.”
The guest agency further announced in Kapihan sa PIA their new packages on
stroke, pneumonia and outpatient mental health, as they continuously expand
their comprehensive healthcare services from basic primary care to catastrophic
packages, and make the benefits even more responsive to the changing medical
care needs of the Filipino people.
The Kapihan sa PIA served as a significant platform of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) to disseminate government programs and projects to the grassroots.
For PIA Caraga, Kapihan sa PIA, in partnership with SM City Butuan, is a monthly activity that is participated by the media partners. The episode is also aired live on the Facebook page of the Philippine Information Agency Caraga and its provincial FB pages. (RLE/PIA-Caraga)
